What kind of "look" are you going for? It depends on your personal preference how you want it to look...its half the fun! I like more objects in my tanks so I would recommend drift wood and some rocks. Are you going for a jungle theme with your plants placed randomly? Or do you want a cleaner look? Give us ideas of what you are wanting...

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“Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

Look into getting Malaysian Driftwood, it sinks right away and you do not need to boil it, but it does help get rid of the yellow colored tanins. I would recommend getting a multiple branchy pieces to create one large center piece.

Purigen in your filter will also pull the tannins out of the water really quickly if you put some DW in without soaking/boiling it first. I had a tank that was practically coffee colored from the DW leeching so many tannins in the water, and it was crystal clear withing 24 hours of adding purigen to the filter... almost like magic I also had a piece of DW in my 55g that would not sink for anything - I ended up floating it in the tank for nearly a month and then weighing it down.. it eventually got waterlogged enough that it stays down without help, but it took a surprisingly long time.

As far as where to go with your tank.. what do you want it to look like? Personally I'd add some driftwood or at the very least some rocks and some taller stem plants in the back to hide the heater.

Well, if we are just working with what you have: first I'd move that heater way over to the corner. Second, I would cluster your plants in groups of single kinds instead of just having them spread all over. I would choose your largest plant and try to make that your focal point (right now the heater is your focal point).

Well, if we are just working with what you have: first I'd move that heater way over to the corner. Second, I would cluster your plants in groups of single kinds instead of just having them spread all over. I would choose your largest plant and try to make that your focal point (right now the heater is your focal point).

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I would also find some rocks and/or wood to make a strong hardscape. Wood might be easier to work with in your tall tank.

6 hours with a single T8 bulb? How about trying to increase by 1/2 hour a week to about 10 hours a day? Stop if you get concerned about too much light causing algae but I suspect you won't have happy plants until they are getting at least 8 hours a day. And a timer is an excellent idea.

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